'Simpsons' Showrunner Responds to 'South Park' Apu Ending

"It's actually in favor of us saying people are too critical," Al Jean says.

It appeared South Park may have been trolling The Simpsons in Wednesday night's episode, but Al Jean did not see it that way.

In "The Problem With Poo," Mr. Hankey got himself in trouble over and over again for tweeting vile messages about the townspeople. When he was called out on his tweets, he blamed the "bad jokes" on Ambien, which mirrors what happened with Roseanne Barr when she tweeted a racist message over the summer that cost her her self-titled ABC show. In the end, Mr. Hankey is forced to leave town. He moves to Springfield and is greeted by Apu.

The classic Fox cartoon was under fire earlier this year for the character of Apu, with some calling it racist and demanding he be changed or eliminated. Simpsons brass made it clear neither would happen.

Jean told The Hollywood Reporter of the South Park ending, "It's actually in favor of us saying people are too critical. Hari Kondabolu [one of the most outspoken critics of the Apu character] tweeted he thought they agreed with him but pulled the comments showing he was wrong. All season the show has had a #cancelsouthpark hashtag so my response (which I tweeted) is: #pleasedontcancelsouthpark."

The Comedy Central cartoon, in its 22nd season, also mocked Brett Kavanaugh and the incident in which the judge was asked to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee after he was accused of sexual assault following his nomination to the Supreme Court.

The episode also opened with another shooting at South Park Elementary, which was the focus of the first episode of the season.